A CHANGE OF LIFE AT 53 (some text hidden) --NONE--

By Jonathan Crouch

The Mercedes-AMG E 53 is now a very different proposition - and not just because of its acquired PHEV tech. Jonathan Crouch takes a look.

Ten Second Reviewword count: 56

This E 53 takes over the mantle of Mercedes' answer to the BMW M5 super saloon. It's now a very different proposition in this shatteringly fast PHEV form and, unlike its E 63 predecessor, can make some sort of real world sense too. Plus, as with that Beemer, you can also have it as an estate.

Backgroundword count: 198

On the face of things, there's grounds for quite a bit of disappointment here. The fieriest E-Class, the classic V8 E 63 AMG, a model which has duelled with BMW's M5 since 2006, is no more, finally abandoned by Mercedes as a sacrifice on the altar of electrification. And its successor is to be the erstwhile prince to that king model's throne, the E 53, launched as a mild hybrid AMG E-Class model back in 2016 and a car that's never done very much to get the enthusiast heart beating. You might think that adding a further 290kg weight to what was already a rather bloated recipe would be unlikely to help things But stay with us because this is a very different kind of E 53 - and a very different kind of top AMG-fettled E-Class. Like the latest G90 BMW M5, it's become a Plug-in Hybrid, with performance gains that out-weigh the weight deficit; and its total system output is very little different to that of the old V8 E 63. But is it all enough to take on that standard-setting M5, a task that even the E 63 struggled with? Let's take a closer look.

Engines and Tech Specword count: 323

This is very different to the last E 53 we drove in 2020 (at the launch of the facelift W213-era MK5 E-Class). Then, this model was a 48V mild hybrid. This replacement design still has six cylinders, but just about everything else about it is different from its predecessor, including the switch to Plug-in Hybrid tech. What a browsing potential M5 customer might want to know about though, is ultimate power. The straight six engine's 449hp output isn't much different from before, but now it's boosted by a 163hp electric motor positioned, not on the rear axle (as it is in the current C 63) but sandwiched between the engine and the AMG Speedshift TCT 9G auto gearbox. That brings things up to 585hp, which can be further improved to 603hp (the same as the old E 63 S) if you've got a variant with the 'AMG Dynamic Plus' package fitted. This brings revised engine software which releases a further 26hp during short bursts of acceleration and allows for a 'Race Start' launch function. Even with that fitted, the 0-62mph sprint figure (3.8s) is still half a second down on the old E 63's stat (but just 0.3s behind the 727hp V8-engined G90 M5). Without the max-attack 'Race Start' system activated, it's 4.1s. All these are of course fractional differences; what you might fret more about as a Mercedes-AMG customer is the absence of the old E 63's wonderful full chat V8 howl. Sure, you don't get that with its PHEV six cylinder replacement, but there's still lots of exhaust crackle charisma. And some financial compensation - not in the price of course (though that's a chunk less than an M5) but more in the seismically-lower BiK tax figures you'll be paying thanks to the 28.6kWh battery inserted beneath the boot floor. When fully charged, this allows for a 59 mile EV range and, more surprisingly, a better balanced weight distribution (47:53 front-to-rear).

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